- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 21 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many guest houses have deregistered in (a) Scotland and (b) each tourist board area in each of the last five years, expressed also as a percentage of all registered guest houses.
Answer
This is an operationalmatter for VisitScotland.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 21 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) guest houses and (b) bed and breakfasts have been registered (i) nationally and (ii) in each tourist board area in each of the last five years.
Answer
This is an operationalmatter for VisitScotland.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 19 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what scientific progress has been made in the last 12 months in support of decoupling the management of cod from other white fish stocks in the North Sea.
Answer
Our Fisheries ResearchServices (FRS) Marine Laboratory have been working on the spatial distributionof haddock, nephrops and other species since the start of the year.
Thiswork was presented at an expert group convened by the European Commission from28 April to 7 May 2003. Based on the approach used by FRS, the groupcollated data on the international catch and catch distribution of variousstocks. They also used this information to identify potential regulated areaswhich would reduce associated cod catches by varying degrees.
Thisinformation was also subsequently considered by the International Council forthe Exploration of the Seas (ICES) at the May meeting of its Advisory Committeeon Fisheries Management (ACFM). This followed a special request from the EUCommission.
Further progress was made bythe Commission’s Scientific Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries(STECF), which convened on 21-24 October. The group considered spatial aspectsof mixed fisheries in the North Sea, with particular regard to thepossibilities for identifying areas which might allow fishing on the healthierstocks (e.g. haddock and nephrops) while still offering some protection torecovery plan stocks (such as cod and plaice).
Officials continue todiscuss these issues with the Commission.
Research has also continuedon the selectivity of fishing gear. This has included technical research intovarious methods designed to encourage the escape of cod from nets (for example,horizontal panels, rising ropes and, in some cases, separator grids).
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 18 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many speech and language therapists there are in each NHS board area, expressed also on a per capita basis and as a ratio to the number of people registered as requiring such services.
Answer
Information on the number ofspeech and language therapists within each NHS board area is contained in thefollowing table, which shows whole time equivalent (WTE) and headcount of speechand language therapists and the population by NHS board area.
Rates of speech and language therapists per 100,000population are also given. These rates should be treated with caution. Thevariability in rates between health boards can be partly explained by the smallnumber of therapists each rate is based on. Also, these rates do not takeaccount of cross-border flows between health boards: for example, patientsresident in one health board area may receive their speech and language therapywithin another.
Information showing theratio of speech and language therapists to the number of people registered asrequiring such services is not held centrally.
Speech and LanguageTherapists by NHS Board
Headcount and Whole TimeEquivalent: at 30 September 2002
Population estimate at 30 June 2002
| | Speech and Language Therapists | | Rate per 100,000 of Population |
| NHS Board | Headcount | WTE | Population | Headcount | WTE |
| Argyll and Clyde | 71 | 61.4 | 418,750 | 16.96 | 14.67 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 60 | 49.0 | 367,060 | 16.35 | 13.35 |
| Borders | 22 | 20.0 | 107,400 | 20.48 | 18.58 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 26 | 22.8 | 147,310 | 17.65 | 15.48 |
| Fife | 52 | 41.1 | 350,620 | 14.83 | 11.72 |
| Forth Valley | 52 | 40.2 | 279,370 | 18.61 | 14.40 |
| Grampian | 108 | 84.1 | 523,290 | 20.64 | 16.07 |
| Greater Glasgow | 168 | 143.8 | 866,080 | 19.40 | 16.61 |
| Highland | 33 | 28.0 | 208,140 | 15.85 | 13.46 |
| Lanarkshire | 112 | 99.4 | 552,910 | 20.26 | 17.97 |
| Lothian | 151 | 118.8 | 779,100 | 19.38 | 15.25 |
| Orkney | 4 | 2.7 | 19,210 | 20.82 | 13.95 |
| Shetland | 3 | 2.7 | 21,940 | 13.67 | 12.31 |
| Tayside | 66 | 57.2 | 387,420 | 17.04 | 14.77 |
| Western Isles | 7 | 7.0 | 26,200 | 26.72 | 26.72 |
| Scotland | 935 | 778.2 | 5,054,800 | 18.50 | 15.40 |
Sources: National ManpowerStatistics from payroll, ISD Scotland. GRO mid-year population estimates.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 18 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has submitted any applications for the use in Scotland of tripartite contracts and agreements between the European Union, the member state and itself as a regional sub-member state administration in relation to areas in which the Executive has the primary responsibility for implementing European legislation and policy.
Answer
No.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 18 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many nurses there are who assist anaesthetists administering general anaesthetic for the purposes of treating children admitted to hospital for tooth extractions at each hospital in each NHS board area, expressed also on a per capita basis.
Answer
This information is not heldcentrally.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 18 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any shortage of speech and language therapists and, if so, what steps are being taken to address the situation.
Answer
Information on vacancies andstaff establishments is reported annually by NHS trusts. These figures areshown in the following table.
Speech and LanguageTherapists Vacancies by NHS Board
Whole Time Equivalent: at 31 March 2003
| NHS Board | Establishment | Vacancies | Vacancies as % of Establishment |
| Argyll and Clyde | 79.9 | 6.0 | 7.5% |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 48.3 | 1.5 | 3.1% |
| Borders | 17.4 | - | - |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 21.0 | 2.0 | 9.5% |
| Fife | 45.6 | 2.0 | 4.4% |
| Forth Valley | 46.4 | - | - |
| Grampian | 92.1 | 9.2 | 10.0% |
| Greater Glasgow | 135.2 | 2.6 | 1.9% |
| Highland | 35.2 | 7.0 | 19.9% |
| Lanarkshire | 107.9 | 9.0 | 8.3% |
| Lothian | 121.5 | 7.4 | 6.1% |
| Orkney | 2.7 | - | - |
| Shetland Health Board | 2.7 | - | - |
| Tayside | 72.8 | 9.0 | 12.4% |
| Western Isles | 8.5 | - | - |
| Scotland | 837.1 | 55.7 | 6.7% |
Source: ISD(M)36, ISD Scotland.
The Executive is committedto increasing overall numbers of Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), includingspeech and language therapists, by 1,500. Working groups established as part of the AHP strategy Future Directions are already looking at initiatives toimprove recruitment and retention and clinical placements. A range of professional development and leadershipopportunities is being developed to retain the existing workforce. Inaddition, £1 million has been made available for additionalstudent places in priority areas including speech and language therapy, fundingis available to support a “return to practice” initiative and alternativeroutes to state registration are currently being explored.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 18 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the proposal by Michl Ebner MEP, supported by the European Parliament, for the creation of a new European agency for linguistic diversity and language learning; whether it will make representations for the new agency to be located in Scotland, given the importance of linguistic diversity in Scottish culture, and, if so, what plans it has to promote the case for location of the agency in Scotland.
Answer
This proposal is one of two explicitrecommendations made by the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture, Youth,Education, the Media and Sport in its report of 14 July 2003 to the EuropeanCommission.
It is now for the Commissionto consider its response to these recommendations.
We will work closely with theUK Government on these matters as and when they are taken forward.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 18 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when research began within the Fisheries Research Service regarding causes of fluctuating cod stocks in the North Sea and what additional funds the Executive has made available for such research.
Answer
The Marine LaboratoryAberdeen, operating under different names, has been conducting research into North Sea codstocks, their assessment and the role of climate since its inception in 1898.Its budget for this year is £23.76 million.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 November 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 18 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to implement its policy on architecture; what further steps will be taken to implement the policy, and what funding has been allocated for this purpose.
Answer
Significant progress hasbeen made in delivering our policy on architecture. The Executive provides£300,000 annually to The Lighthouse to deliver a national programme ofactivities to raise awareness of the benefits of good architecture. Otherinitiatives include a £600,000 sustainable design programme which is currentlyunder way and, last year, £144,000 was invested in an educational initiativefor school children. A new body, Architecture and Design Scotland,will be established in early 2005 to replace and build upon the work of theRoyal Fine Art Commission for Scotland.
